As I posted yesterday, with primaries wrapping up, the candidates for the major parties are being chosen. Some candidates will run as an independent (like Betsy Johnson in the Oregon governor’s race). For most, if not all, states in the United States, the state office of Secretary of State is responsible for running elections within a state. These offices have been working to be able to provide unofficial results as soon as an election concludes. To find this, search for “secretary of state yourstatename elections” to start. Oregon has an excellent site, and your state probably does as well. Check it out!
Politics
There are 146 posts filed in Politics (this is page 10 of 15).
Who represents you?
With the primary elections wrapping up across the nation, you might have a question – who is my representative? At the state level, a voter has a state representative and a state senator (except for states that have a unicameral legislature (one chamber, not two)). At the federal level, a voter has a US House representative, and two US Senators. But with redistricting going on as part of the 2022 elections, someone different might be representing you.
How to find out? The Oregon Legislature has a page to allow you to enter your address and find out who your current representative are (searched on “how to find my representative in Oregon”). Next, you might do a search on “yourstatename redistricting”. For me in Oregon, this lead to a website for the Oregon Legislature on changes made for redistricting. This site also had links to a GIS site with PDFs for Oregon state House and Senate districts, and US House districts. From the earlier page, I could find my state House and Senate district, and was able to download the map. In a few minutes, I had all the information I needed.
Next step – who is running for office this fall? Tune in soon!
Looking for tools for a citizen’s toolkit
In April, Ken Smith wrote about the need to citizens to provoke change in their government He asked this question: “What tools do citizens need to make this essential contribution to their democracy?”. Ken created an initial list, but I would like to suggest three other sites for resources.
Community Tool Box from the University of Kansas: “Get help taking action, teaching, and training others in organizing for community development.”
City of Orlando: Neighborhood training source
City of Orlando: Taking Your Leadership Skills to the Next Level (PDF)
City of Cupertino: Neighborhood Block Leader Resources
Starting a political journey
The political primary for the state of Oregon was last week, and I was pleased with the results overall (most of the candidates I voted for won). I have had the feeling for some time that although voting is a necessary condition to maintain democracy, it is not sufficient by itself. Participation by the voters in the democracy is also required to keep it strong. Last fall, I signed up for the newsletter for my county Democratic Party committee. I have not done any more than that up to this point. Well, today, I sent for some information on the Neighborhood Leader Program. It is a small step, but long journeys begin with the first step. I will work to take one political action each day. Hopefully, this journey will make me more of a participant in our democracy.
What I liked about the inauguration of Joe Biden
I watched the inaugural activities on CSPAN on January 20th, and I had some thoughts I wanted to share on what I liked about the ceremonies:
The pagentry
The military escort at the arrival of the Bidens at the Capitol, the introduction of guests, the presenting of the colors, presenting the wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier – all of these demonstrated the great pagentry and tradition of this event.
The music
I greatly enjoyed the music of the United States Marine Band at the Capitol, and the other locations where military bands performed. It is fitting that these musical organizations, which have been present for most of the history of the United States of America, were the primary music of choice at the inauguration. As a euphonium player myself, I have performed many of the marches that were heard yesterday. The music brought tears to my eyes again and again.
The oath of office
Although the act of taking the oath of office is simple and short, its meaning is great. My family and I watched both Vice President Harris and President Biden take the oath of office, and we clapped at home for both of them. Again, tears flowed as a new era in American politics began.
“Mr. President”
As Chief Justice John Roberts completed the administering the oath of office to Joe Biden, he was the first to say the words “Mr. President”. Tears flowed down my cheeks. As President Biden was greeted by congressional leaders and military personnel through the day, by news media, by well-wishers, each time I heard the words “Mr. President”, it felt like it meant something again; for me, it had not meant anything for the past four years.
I hope that this event will be a sign of great things to come for the United States of America. I will pray every day that our country can heal from the divisiveness of the past four years and move forward in greatness again.
Chris Aldrich (boffosocko.com)After watching many Republicans on the Sunday morning shows and hearing a few on the radio this morning, I notice that they’re actively preferring only one or two of the three solutions after Wednesday’s insurrectionist coup attempt. Three options
The three broad options that everyone is talking…
In listening to part of the Rules Committee debate this morning, the ranking Republican member said impeachment would be divisive, but made no mention of Republican culpability in the attack at the Capitol on January 6th.
- Schrader’s spokesperson resigned over his remarks, for which he apologized on Friday evening.
Sounds like it is time for Kurt Schrader to resign as well….
Yale professor Timothy Snyder, author of “On Tyranny,” says Donald Trump is “moving from the territory of the medium-sized lie into the big lie” about the election. Snyder tells Brian Stelter the news media should “take a deep breath” and “talk about the context” of Trump’s anti-democratic actions, including what it means for the integrity of future elections.
Worth watching….
Every American who watched in horror as our Capitol was overrun by domestic terrorists on Wednesday has a right to know how this happened, why it happened, who is responsible and what we are going to do about it.